Second Amendment and Firearms Laws - Free Essay Example

The 2nd Amendment of the Bill of Rights of the United States Constitution is commonly known to ordinary civilians, the Right to Bear Arms. However, the United States Supreme Court has officially interpreted that the Second Amendment gives an individual the right to possess a weapon unrelated to military service for traditionally lawful purposes such as self-defense. There are many civilians in our nation who believe that the Second Amendment means the possession of firearms, and due to the mass shootings that have happened and are still happening around the country, many of the people have decided that it is in the countrys best interest to have the civilian right to bear arms revoked, protesting the right to firearms. From the 1930s to the 2000s, the federal government implemented different major federal firearms laws; regardless of these numerous regulations and laws, gun control activists believe that the civilian right to bear arms should be controlled due to the recent rise in firearm-related injuries and deaths, while gun rights activists argue that gun control laws infringe upon peoples rights and citizens should have the right to use and own firearms for lawful and recreation reasons, and correspondingly, the federal and state government has upheld the regulations or the Second Amendment in different court cases. The federal government of the United States has passed several major firearms laws with different purposes to regulate gun control for both citizens and officers of the law without violating the Second Amendment. Since the first firearm legislation passed in 1927, the federal government has enacted several crucial legislations and regulations about firearms that have stayed within the boundaries of the Second Amendment, and to keep the public safe: the National Firearms Act of 1934, the Federal Firearms Act of 1938, ruling from United States v. Miller, and the Gun Control Act of 1968. Each legislation passed had an effect on firearms users and the rest of the public. The National Firearms Act of 1934 (NFA) introduced a tax on the manufacturing and transporting of firearms, as well as a specific employment tax on the people and entities involved in the manufacturing, importing/exporting, and dealing in the NFA specified firearms. However, as stated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the National Firearm Act of 1934 had an intrinsic purpose to abridge, if not completely ban, transactions of NFA defined firearms. Additionally, the NFA imposed a requirement on all people transporting or transferring NFA defined firearms, including all possessors of unregistered firearms, to register them with the Secretary of the Treasury. This legislation affected the public in which if a person went to register an unregistered firearm, the State could use information acquired from the Department of Treasury and prosecute the individual involved; Supreme Court ruled this legislation unconstitutional in United States v. Haynes, with the Hayne s decision essentially nullifying the NFA. Another gun control milestone was the Federal Firearms Act of 1938, which is still in effect today. The Federal Firearms Act of 1938 (FFA) as opposed to the NFA mandates that firearm manufacturers and dealers acquire a federal firearms license (FFL). This in turn has allowed federal firearms licensed gun dealers and manufacturers to keep customer records, and defined groups of people who werent allowed to purchase guns. In United States v. Miller the Supreme Court ruled that Congress could regulate interstate selling of a sawed off shotgun through the NFA, and that such a weapon has reasonable relation to the preservation or efficiency of a well regulated militia. The Gun Control Act of 1968 was and currently is a federal law that regulates interstate and foreign commerce in firearms. The Gun Control Act of 1968 was passed following the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy and currently imposes strict licensin g and regulation of the firearms industry. GCA also currently establishes new groups of firearms offenses and crimes and bans the sale of firearms or other weapons to convicted felons and certain other people. Title II of the GCA amended the National Firearms Act to cure the constitutional flaw uncovered in the Haynes decision. The Firearms Owners Protection Act of 1986, Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act of 1993, and the NICS Improvement Act of 2008 are all incorporated acts in the GCA. Each incorporated act gave safety to both gun owners and the general public. These different major gun control legislations provided by control and safety to the general public, while not violating the gun owners Second Amendment rights of the Constitution. The debate around gun control and the peoples constitutional right to guns is a hot, controversial topic, and many gun control activists believe that gun violence is a gargantuan problem in the United States, and that the recent rise of gun violence that results in gun-related injuries and death is a call for stricter laws. How much has gun violence resulting in injury and death increased? The number of different acts of gun violence that resulted in injury and death, for example, in the year 2015 have risen, and gun control proponents use the statistics taken on the reported incidents to support their cause. For example, a shooting is one form of gun violence that results in gun-related injury and death; in the year of 2015 alone, according to PBS.org, Oldham (2016) stated that the total number of shootings tallied was 372 incidents (para. 2). Additionally, according to the New York Times, in the year 2016, Hauser (2017) stated that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention rep orted that the firearm mortality rate in the United States had risen up to about 12 per 100,000 people (para. 1). Gun homicide, another form of gun violence resulting in gun-related deaths, is also a reason why gun control advocates want regulations on the purchase and use of firearms. Gun homicides do not get as much media attention as shootings, but on average, 34 people in America are murdered, as stated by the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. Shootings and gun-related homicides are just two of many different forms of gun violence that result in injury and death. In conjunction with these two forms of gun violence, gun control advocacy organizations argue that the major firearms laws and regulations passed by Congress should be maintained to curb the number of deaths caused by firearms. Gun control advocates argue that the allowing of civilian access to assault weapons leads to mass casualties. The Federal Assault Weapons Ban, also known as the Public Safety and Recreational Firearms Act, is one legislation that gun control advocacy organizations are arguing to bring back, as the act expired in 2004. The Federal Assault Weapons Ban banned the civilian use of automatic and semi-automatic weapons and large capacity magazines. Organizations such as a Coalition to Stop Gun Violence have persistently advocated the renewal of the Federal Assault Weapons Ban, stating that assault weapons are designed to maximize lethality, and that they are intended to kill as many humans as possible as quickly as possible. Gun control activists often argue that the laws and regulations currently in place are too lenient in regards to the accessibility of firearms, and that because of the dangers guns pose, criminals or people who are not fit to handle such a weapon should be thoroughly have their background checked. Correspondingly, firearms control advocates argue that licensed dealers who sell to criminals, or bad apple firearms dealers, and lack of background checks also contributes to the rise in gun-related injury and death. These advocates believe that stricter laws on these licensed dealers and background checks are needed because people with nefarious purposes have and can access them without much difficulty. As stated by Everytown for Gun Safety, thousands of guns are available for sale from unlicensed online dealers without, despite the federal law that mandates licensed gun dealers conduct background checks for all guns sales. Similarly, the Brady Campaign to Prevent Violence believes that b ad apple gun dealers are responsible for most of the guns used in crimes that result in death all across the United States. Gun rights advocates argue the very opposite. Gun rights advocates have argued that the gun control laws infringe upon the right to self-defense and deny people a sense of safety. Additionally, gun rights activist also argue that by implementing gun control laws, particularly those that restrict and/or ban assault weapons, infringe upon the right to own guns for recreation such as hunting or sport. Advocates of the Second Amendment also argue that gun control laws will not stop criminals from using firearms as a weapon, as it the the criminal who uses the gun to hurt, not the gun in and of itself. Gun rights advocates and others who support the Second Amendment relative to other arms have acknowledged that there should be certain laws that restrict guns, but in a way that does not violate the peoples constitutional right to bear arms, firearms and other weapons included. Since the formation of the United States Constitution, gun rights advocacy organizations argue that the citizens of the United States have earned the constitutional right to use/carry firearms or any other form of arms to protect themselves in self-defense against criminals, as shown in different Supreme Court cases. One landmark Supreme Court case that involved the Second Amendment is District of Columbia v. Heller in 2008. This cases ruling set a precedent for gun rights advocates because the ruling struck down provisions of a D.C. law that prohibited handgun possession making the carrying of unregistered firearms and prohibiting the registration of handguns a crime. This District of Columbia law also required that no person was allowed to carry an unlicensed handgun and residents to keep all owned firearms unloaded and/or bound by a trigger lock or similar device (District of Columbia v. Heller, 2008). The Supreme Courts ruling that the District of Columbias law was unconstitution al was a huge step for gun rights advocates and their views on civilian gun ownership. The United States Supreme Court has had many landmark cases in which the Court either upheld a firearms regulation/law or upheld the Second Amendment for the people. In addition to the case of District of Columbia v. Heller in 2008 and Haynes v. United States in 1968, there have been several recent cases involving the Second Amendment, both at the federal and state level. McDonald v. City of Chicago, Illinois was a major court case that took place in 2010 after the Heller ruling in 2008. In this case, petitioners filed a federal suit against the city of Chicago stating that the citys handgun possession ban left the citizens defenseless against criminals, and that the ban was unconstitutional. Originally, the Court rejected the petitioners argument that the ban was unconstitutional, referring back to the Seventh Circuits Heller ruling which refrained from interpreting whether or not the Second Amendment applied to the States; however, this decision was reversed and the case remanded, as four Justices dissented as they found no constitutional protection against state intrusion (McDonald v. Chicago, 2010). This case upheld the Second Amendment of the Constitution and was considered a win for gun rights advocates. Another very recent case involving the Second Amendment is Voisine v. United States in 2016. Supreme Court, in an attempt to close a dangerous loophole in firearms regulations, extended the federal ban of firearms possession by a convicted felon to a person convicted of a misdemeanor under the law: federal, state, and/or tribal (Voisine v. United States, 2016). This ruling by the Supreme Court made gun purchases by citizens with a misdemeanor conviction from firearms licensed gun dealers prohibited; it was also a win for gun control advocates lobbying for tighter, harsher gun control laws. Caetano v. Massachusetts in 2016 is also a case involving the Second Amendment. In this case, Jaime Caetano, a woman convicted for carrying a stun gun for self-defense, had her conviction overturned because the weapon was a form of a lawful weapon possessed at home, thus falling under the protection of the Second Amendment, regardless of the weapons relation to military use (Caetano v. Massachusett s, 2016). While this court case was not directly related to firearms, such as handguns, rifles, and shotguns, the arm in question fell under the protection of the Second Amendment. I stand today as a supporter and advocate of the Second Amendment. I understand that the issue about gun rights and gun control is a sensitive and controversial topic. In light of all of the violence with guns surrounding society today, I reasonably see why people are so afraid about firearms and why people believe that gun control laws should be stricter. From shootings to suicides to gun homicides, people are now living in constant fear that the area where they live or work could be a potential target for a shooting, or people they love could take their own lives with guns bought online. I also understand that guns cant be stopped completely from being sold illegally. Gun control and gun rights activists are reasonably fighting for their cause. There is no denying that violence through the use of firearms is incredibly dangerous. Gun control activists do have reasons to pursue stricter gun laws, and gun rights advocates have their reasons why they believe that stricter gun laws infringe on their right to own firearms whether for lawful or recreational purposes. The question is, what gun laws that provide safety for the general public, but also do not violate or infringe upon our Constitutions Second Amendment can be passed? From history to present times, the federal government has passed critical gun regulations and laws, and upheld convictions and the Second Amendment rights; subsequently leading to differently held beliefs on the two sides of gun rights and gun control. References Coalition to Stop Gun Violence. Assault weapons. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.csgv.org/issues/assault-weapon/ Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. Changing the gun industry. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.bradycampaign.org/our-work/changing-the-gun-industry Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. Key gun violence statistics. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.bradycampaign.org/key-gun-violence-statistics Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. National firearms act. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.atf.gov/rules-and-regulations/national-firearms-act Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Gun control act. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.atf.gov/rules-and-regulations/gun-control-act Caetano v. Massachusetts, 577 U. S. ___ (2016) (per curiam) Dimaggio, C., Avraham, J., Berry, C., Bukur, M., Scd, J. F., Klein, M., . . . Frangos, S. (2018, 09). Changes in US mass shooting deaths associated with the 1994-2004 Federal Assault Weapon Ban [Abstract]. Journal of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery, 1. doi:10.1097/ta.0000000000002060 District of Columbia v. Heller, 554 U. S. 570 (2008) Everytown for Gun Safety. Online Gun Sales. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://everytownresearch.org/issue/online-gun-sales/ Gray, S. (2018, February 22). A timeline of gun control laws in the U.S. Time. Retrieved from https://time.com/5169210/us-gun-control-laws-history-timeline/ Gun Control ProCon.org. Top pro con arguments. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://gun-control.procon.org/ Hauser, C. (2017, November 04). Gun death rate rose again in 2016, C.D.C. says. The New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/04/us/gun-death-rates.html Haynes v. United States, 390 U. S. 85 (1968) McDonald v. Chicago, 561 U. S. 742 (2010) Oldham, A. (2016, January 01). 2015: The year of mass shootings. Retrieved from https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/2015-the-year-of-mass-shootings United States v. Miller, 307 U. S. 174 (1939) United States v. Miller. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/307/174 U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Criminal Justice Information Services Division. (2016). Crime in the United States 2016. Retrieved from https://ucr.fbi.gov/crime-in-the-u.s/2016/crime-in-the-u.s.-2016/tables/expanded-homicide-data-table-4.xls Library of Congress. United States: Gun ownership and the Supreme Court. (2012, May 10). Retrieved from https://www.loc.gov/law/help/second-amendment.php Voisine v. United States, 579 U. S. ___ (2016)

Profile of Charles Starkweather, 1950s Spree Killer

Charles Starkweather had all the makings of growing up to be a respectable man, but greed, resentments, and jealousy ate at his soul and turned him into a cold-blooded killer that murdered at will during an eight-day killing spree. With his 14-year-old girlfriend at his side, the two killed anyone that got in their way, regardless of their relationship to their victims. Childhood Years Starkweather was born on November 29, 1938, in Lincoln, Nebraska to Guy and Helen Starkweather. Unlike many serial killers, Starkweather grew up in a modest and respectable home with hardworking parents who provided for their seven children. Those who knew Charles as a child described him as well behaved and mild-mannered, as were all the Starkweather children. It was not until Charles started school that a deadly monster inside of him began to grow. Elementary School Years Born with genu varum, also known as bow-legged, Starkweather had to endure some early challenges. He also developed a speech impediment and was teased by his classmates. Suffering from undiagnosed severe myopia, which prevented him from being able to see objects twenty feet away, Starkweather was labeled as a poor student and perceived as being slow by his teachers, despite his 110 IQ. It wasnt until he was 15 that his inability to see was diagnosed, but it was too late for Charles, who was already severely lacking in primary education. Middle School Years Starkweather was one of the kids that sat in the back of the class, distracted and seemingly annoyed by having to be there. But when it came to gym time, his self-esteem shined. Physically he had developed into a robust and coordinated athlete. That could have been a positive factor in his life. Instead, Starkweather became one of the school bullies who his fellow students feared. As he grew older anyone who appeared better than him, regardless of if he knew them, was a possible victim of his quick kicks and hard fists. High School Drop Out At the age of 16, Starkweather dropped out of ninth grade and worked at a warehouse. He developed a passion for fast cars and renegade attitudes. Around this time James Dean hit the big screen in the movie classics, East of Eden and Rebel Without a Cause. Starkweather identified with James Deans role as Jim Start, the troubled and rebellious teenager. He started dressing like Dean with tight jeans, slicked-back hair and cowboy boots. Starkweather embraced the hood persona and all the attitudes that went with it. He had developed into a moody, ego-driven defensive trouble maker who had little control over his quick temper and brewing rage. Caril Fugate Caril Fugate was the 13-year-old younger sister of Starkweathers best friends girlfriend. The four began double dating, and the young impressionable Caril became infatuated with her James Dean look-alike boyfriend. Starkweather was equally infatuated with Caril. She was pretty, as rebellious as he was and she adored him. What little money Starkweather made was spent on keeping Caril happy. It did not take long for the word to get around that Caril was his, and anyone else who might be interested would be risking their lives to pursue her. He left his job at the warehouse after several run-ins with his boss and began working as a trash collector. He liked the job better. It allowed him more time to see Caril after she got out of school, something Carils parents did not like. When rumors circulated that Starkweather and Caril were going to get married and that she was pregnant the Fugates decided to stop the relationship. This did little to deter the two. They continued to see each other. The Unobtainable Starkweathers life was falling apart. His father had kicked him out of the house after the two argued over an accident that Caril had in a car that he and his father owned together. Carils parents totally rejected Starkweather and forbade their daughter from seeing him. He lost his job as a sanitation worker and got locked out of his room for not paying his rent. It is at this point that the depressed and frustrated Starkweather decided that he had no future, but what little future he did have was going to be spent with Caril Fugate and all the material things that up to now had been unobtainable. First Murder On December 1, 1957, Robert Colvert, 21, was working at his job at the Crest gas station, when Starkweather robbed, kidnapped, then shot him in the back of the head on a dirt road outside of Lincoln, Nebraska. The day before Colvert had refused credit to Starkweather who was short on cash and wanted to buy Fugate a stuffed animal. This hurt Starkweathers pride, and he wanted to get even. He could also use the $108 that he robbed from the station. As far as killing Colvert, in Starkweathers mind, the kid deserved it. He shouldnt have humiliated him the day before by refusing him credit. The following day Starkweather told Fugate about the murder. She did not end the relationship after hearing the news. For Starkweather, this was a sign that their relationship was forever sealed. What was going through the mind of Starkweather in the weeks before January 21, 1958, is not known, but the pressure of having to one day face the consequences for murdering Colvert were surely mounting. But now with the monster inside of him unleashed, there would be no going back to his normal, dismal life. The Bartlett Family According to Starkweather, on January 21 he decided to try to mend his relationship with Fugates parents. He went over to their house to invite her stepfather Marion Bartlett to go hunting. He also brought Fugates mother Velda Bartlett two pieces of carpet. The Bartletts, who believed that their young daughter was pregnant by Starkweather, were not swayed by his good intentions and an argument broke out. Starkweather became unhinged and shot Velda in the face and Marion in the back of the head. The Bartletts daughter (Fugates sister), two-and-a-half-year-old Betty Jean, was also not spared. Starkweather shut off her frightened cries by slashing her repeatedly in the throat with a knife. Then to make certain no one survived the massacre, he stabbed all of his victims again. He then put Veldas body inside the commode of the family outhouse. He put Betty Jeans body inside a box of garbage and also placed her in the outhouse. Marions body was left on the floor of the chicken coup. Life Goes On Starkweather and Fugate lived in her dead parents house like a couple honeymooning for the next six days. To those who stopped by they were greeted with a handwritten note stuck on the front door that said, Stay away Every Body is sick with the Flue. Friends and family of the Bartletts werent buying the flu note, and after a lot of persistence the police did a physical search of the home and found the bodies, but not before Starkweather and Fugate had fled. August Meyer Now on the run, Starkweather, and Fugate weaved through back roads and made it to Bennet, Nebraska, where August Meyer, 70, and a long time friend of the Starkweather family lived. As they made their way up the rough dirt road that led to Meyers farm their car got stuck in the  snow. The couple abandoned it and continued on foot to the old mans house. What transpired afterward is unclear, except that Starkweather and Meyer got into a confrontation and Meyer ended up dead from a shotgun blast that removed a large portion of his head. Well fed from food from Meyers kitchen and loaded up with the dead mans guns and whatever cash they could find, Starkweather and Fugate headed by foot to the nearest main road. If they were to survive, they needed to get their hands on a car. Robert Jensen, Jr. and Carol King The couple hitched a ride with Robert Jensen, Jr., 17, and 16-year-old Carol King. Without wasting any time, Starkweather forced Jensen to go to a torn down school that was nearby. The terrified couple was led to a storm cellar. There Starkweather shot Jensen six times in the head and King once in the head. When the police discovered the young couple, it was noted that Kings pants had been pulled down and her genitals had been slashed, but there were no signs that she had been sexually assaulted. Starkweather later said that Fugate was responsible for the slashing. She thought Starkweather was sexually attracted to King and acted out of jealousy. A Strange Turn of Events As more of Starkweathers victims were discovered the manhunt for the fugitives intensified. At first, Starkweather talked about going out of state to Washington, but for some strange reason the couple turned Jensens car around and headed back to Lincoln. They passed by Fugates family home, but when they spotted the police cars that surrounded the house, they headed to the more affluent side of town where the rich lived. The Wards and Lilian Fencil Starkweather was familiar with the big homes that lined the streets from his days as a trash collector. One of the wealthiest homes belonged to C. Lauer Ward, 47, and his wife Clara Ward, also 47. Ward was the president of the Capital Bridge Company and the Capital Steel Company and one of the wealthiest men in town. On January 30, 1958, now eight days on the run, Starkweather, and Fugate forced their way into the Ward home. Inside were Clara and their live-in maid Lilian Fencl. Starkweather told the women that they had nothing to fear, then ordered Clara to fix breakfast. He liked being waited on by the woman whose trash he had collected so often. He then tied each of the women up in separate rooms and stabbed them to death. Annoyed by Claras barking poodle, he crushed the dogs neck with his rifle, leaving it alive to suffer. When C. Lauer Ward returned home from work, he met with the same fate as his wife and Fencil. Starkweather shot him dead. The F.B.I. Starkweather and Fugate loaded up C. Lauer Wards 1956 black Packard with supplies and decided to get out of town. When the Wards bodies were discovered the Governor put the F.B.I. and the National Guard on the case to stop the fugitives. Merle Collison Starkweather decided that they needed to get rid of Packard after hearing descriptions of them and the car on the radio. Merle Collison was a traveling shoe salesman who decided to pull off on a side road for a nap just outside of Douglas, Wyoming. Starkweather spotted the napping man, pulled over and woke him up. He demanded that Collinson switch cars with him, but the salesman refused. Not having time to argue, Starkweather shot him in the head nine times. Collison had a Buick with a push-pedal emergency brake, and Starkweather did not know how to release it. When he stalled out a passer-by offered to help, he was met with a rifle pointed at his face and the two began to wrestle. At the same time deputy Sheriff William Romer drove up on the pair, and Fugate sprang from the front seat of the Buick, screaming and pointing at Starkweather, saying, Hes killed a man! Starkweather jumped into the Packard and took off with Romer following close behind. Romer called for back up as he tried to keep up with Starkweather who was driving up to 120 miles an hour. More officers joined the chase, and one of them managed to shoot out the back windshield of the Packard. When a piece of the spraying glass cut Starkweather, he thought he had been shot and quickly pulled over and surrendered. In Custody The killing spree of Starkweather and Fugate was over, but the task of putting together the pieces of who did what had just begun for authorities. At first, Starkweather said Fugate was not responsible for any of the killings. Fugate insisted she was a victim and not a participant in any crimes. She told investigators that she had been held hostage and that Starkweather said he would kill her family if she did not go along with his demands. Fugates hostage story quickly dissolved after she admitted to being present when her family was butchered. Both were charged with first-degree murder, and they were extradited to Nebraska to stand trial. The Trial of Charles Starkweather The list of charges against Starkweather was lengthy, and the only defense his lawyers could bring to the table that could save him from the electric chair was an insanity defense. But to Starkweather, going down in history as insane was unacceptable. He used every possible opportunity to thwart his lawyers efforts by announcing that he was indeed sane during his killing spree. Instead, he said he killed his victims out of self-defense, a position no one believed. The jury found him guilty on two charges of first-degree murder and recommended that he be put to death in the electric chair. The court agreed, and he was sentenced to die on June 25, 1959. The Trial of Fugate When Starkweather found out that Fugate said she was his hostage, he stopped protecting her and told the authorities of her activity which included slashing Carol Kings genitals and shooting C. Lauer Ward. He also said she was responsible for Merle Collisons murder and went as far as describing her as one of the most trigger happy people he had ever met. He testified against her in court, although it was pointed out by her defense that he had changed his story at least seven times in the past. Few believed Fugates defense of being a victim and she was found guilty of murdering Robert Jensen, Jr. and given a life sentence because of her age. In the years following her sentencing, she continued to insist that she was a victim. Her sentence was later commuted, and she was paroled in June 1976. Except for one interview, Fugate never spoke publically about her time spent with Starkweather. The Final Curtain Call On June 25, 1959, Starkweathers execution was on schedule. Earlier in the evening, he had ordered cold cuts for his final meal. He was asked if he wanted to donate his eyes, which he said no adding, Why should I? Nobody ever gave me anything. Just after midnight, ​the 20-year-old spree killer was escorted to the execution chamber with his head shaved and dressed in a prison denim shirt and jeans. When Starkweather was asked if he had any final words, he merely shook his head no. There was to be no last scene for the James Dean wannabe. No words to send journalist off scribbling in their notebooks. He, like other killers before him, was strapped into the electric chair, hit with 2200 volts of electricity and killed.

What Is Ubiquitous Computing - 890 Words

What is Ubiquitous Computing ? What is ubiquitous computing? An exciting new approach to serving us with technology? Or the environment where the virtuality will became the reality? Lets try to give the definition of ubiquitous computing, its development, including the key people and places influencing its development, and finally some concerns raised by this new approach for putting technology and people together. Already, one name has been reoccurring when talking about ubiquitous computing: Mark Weiser. In 1991 Mark Weiser thought of as the founder of what we now term ubiquitous computing, wrote an article for Scientific American entitled The Computer for the 21st Century. In it, Weiser describes the multiple computers in a†¦show more content†¦But now current technology will not meet the demands of ubiquitous computing. Using current technology it is not possible to simply move information from place to place. This lack of data creates a huge cost on the information technology industry. A large amount of time is spent by developers changing the format of data: the lists of formats are endless. Our vision is based on the idea that a concept has a minimal size of binary data. This minimal format should be the format used to record and exchange information between applications and across networks. It should be the format which can be moved between systems and software easily, secure ly and simply. Whether we think of physics, chemistry or biology the contrast is the same; these sciences are driven by the urge to understand and ours by the urge to build. I consider that applications of ubiquitous computing in such a areas as Urban environment to systematically design environments that unite physical architecture with ubiquitous technologies as human computer interaction Ââ€" service directory , attention management , ubiquitous healthcare - warning people of their problems and gathering data for research, automating highway , to study monitoring and control of private vehicles on a public highway, with particular reference to efficiency of road use and to safety, will be very useful to our world. So, as we aim to create new systems thatShow MoreRelatedEssay about What Is Ubiquitous Computing ?1040 Words   |  5 PagesWhat is Ubiquitous Computing ? What is ubiquitous computing? An exciting new approach to serving us with technology? Or the environment where the virtuality will became the reality? 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Performance Pay and Productivity

Question: Discuss about thePerformance Pay and Productivity. Answer: Introduction Over decades, firms across the word have introduced various payment schemes to compensate their employees for their contribution to their success. Among the most prevalent reimbursement packages used by the majority of the organizations in both private and public sector, currently is the performance-related pay, whereby workers are paid based on their individual or group productivity. Enterprise executives utilize such incentive programs to motivate staff members to become more efficient at their places of work, enhance their commitment, augment job satisfaction, lower absenteeism rates as well as employee turnover ratios. Most of the entities that apply performance-based schemes do not establish them by themselves rather as an aspect of the organization transformations on operations, for instance, teamwork, employee engrossment committee or in some cases a total quality management that improves employee participation in decision-making (Park, and Sturman, 2015). Despite the fact that a lot of research has been made to investigate the effectiveness of performance payment programs, little is known about its impact on the productivity of workers in any organizational setting. The majority of the studies provide that performance-based pay is closely associated with improved productivity among the labor force as well as enhanced quality of the employee-firm match. However, some researchers offer opposing opinions arguing that this type of compensation plan may not always yield anticipated results of increased worker performance since it is often associated with some setbacks (Heywood and Parent, 2012). While it is true that performance-related schemes often supplement employees' morale and as a result develop their efficiency, it is critical for the firms advocating for their implementation to consider the related setbacks and execute other programs to motivate their labor force rather than using financial incentives to encourage them towards pro ductivity. This literature review paper examines in depth the issue of Performance-based rewards by examining several theoretical works provided by different theorists and academics over the years. It identifies significant findings of these theories and their common trend in addressing the impact of this remuneration program on productivity of groups and individual employees in various organizations in diverse environmental settings. Literature Review According to Lavy (2007), implementation of performance based pay in an organization aids substantially in improving employee overall productivity. He holds that workers remunerated based on their enactment will tend to work harder since they are assured of direct gains in productivity. Lavy points out that financial incentive gives an opportunity to augment staff output in the public sector and as a result governments can apply them in order to deliver loftier public services. Lazear (2000) tended to have a similar school of thought as Lavy since according to him financial rewards not only increase employees output but also attract a splendid pool of new applicants with the passion for delivering. Based on Lazears study, paying a worker depending on his or her work accomplishments often augments the quantity and quality of new job seekers thus helping to bring more employees in the labor force, with obvious results for general productivity. Chiang and Birtch (2010) also provide a related point of view on the correlation between pay for performance and employee attitude towards job. In the course of the research, they surveyed the employees level of work satisfaction, managerial commitment towards administrative functions, as well as the overall turnover ratio and how the various parameters were affected by pay for performance remuneration system. The study sample selected by the researchers included the tourism industry in the region and some hotels located in Hong Kong. With the help of various departments at the company, they distributed questionnaires randomly to a sample of workers working in the respective firms. The investigators received about 258 valid rejoinders from seven hotels sampled. Descriptive measurements as well as correspondence coefficients which were used for all research variables were tabulated. In the analysis part of the hierarchical research regression technique was employed. The outcomes of th e investigation reveal that when workers anticipate for a high financial reward association they tended to demonstrate augmented positive attitude towards work. In other words, reward systems, such as pay for performance, take a significant part in the configuration of worker-firm service eminence values. Apart from creating a noticeable association between payment and performance, this remuneration scheme help in enhancing job satisfaction and staff devotion as well as reducing turnover ratios, all of which may consequently boost service quality (Muhammad, 2012). Financial rewards or penalties often result in desirable consequences for the attraction and retention of exceptionally qualified and able pool of high achievers as well as the turnover of non-performers over time. Besley and Ghatak (2003) figured out that the implementation of pay-per-performance schemes associated with being a productive headmaster in schools resulted in non-performing head teachers resigning from their jobs rather than accepting lower remunerations. Besley and Machin scrutinize the pay levels of principal teachers in the UK in relation to the performance of the learning institutions they are associated with. They realized that headmasters salaried in accordance to their enactment seemed highly incentivized, and their learners' overall performance was consisted reflecting the great deal of splendid contribution of the institution leadership. Burgess and Ratto (2004) expounds on the phenomenon of ratchet effect which occurs when employees lessen their efforts so as to convince their employers to believe that the task assigned to them is extremely difficult to carry out than it really is. They argue that Majority of the incentive plans remain active for considerable period of time during which the productivity of workers is assessed and rewards are bestowed multifarious times. In this case, the staff members can, thus, note the capability of the company from the preceding productivity capacities and come up with an assessment of the difficulty of the assigned task. Managers desiring to decrease the expenditures of their remuneration system can then readjust inceptions and elevate objects to restrain the dissemination of monetary rewards at every productivity stages. In anticipation of such vicissitudes, workers are probably going to lessen their performance in prior stages to misinform the managers into trusting that the w ork is extra complicated than it is commonly perceived. These theorists, therefore, conclude that ratchet effects have the capacity to affect the efficiency of pay-per-performance systems negatively. Dixit (2002) however, provide a contrasting view. He holds that career concerns can function in opposing direction to the phenomenon of ratchet effect described above. Whether this occurrence can be overcome depends entirely on the age of a particular worker, his potentials as well as their level of uncertainty in regard to their capability to, amongst other influences. Dixit further maintains that in case an employer is not aware of the real ability of a staff member, the employee can work extra harder at the inception stages, to reveal the impression that they are high achievers. As a consequence, the pay off at this initial stage for the member may emerge in the long term, concerning exceptional job opportunities as well satisfying future earnings. Dixit therefore, concludes that financial incentives may sound unnecessary in motivating younger, untried workers towards productivity. Propper, Wilson, et.al (2003), on the other hand, address the issue of pay-per-performance from a distinctive point of view. They say that in most of the cases, the public amenities are multidimensional and as such, the goals of a firm are challenging to describe and also to assess. They give an example of a school whose primary goal is to offer good education, ' but this is not easy to describe. Even breaking into sub-components this general school objective can be challenging; there is, for instance, considerable deliberation about what encompasses a commendable degree of a high quality of education. Therefore, it becomes harder to initiate proper performance assessment techniques thus imparting little information about the productivity of a group or individual staff member. As a result, relating financial incentives to the achieving of performance objectives fail to provide adequate inducements, might contribute to particular rudiments of strategic conduct and levies superfluous j eopardy on organization workforces. In as much as career concerns of an individual employee offer an inner inspiration to put additional exertion even in the nonexistence of monetary inducements, a civic segment (intrinsic) incentive could have a comparable effect, this phase irrespective of the workers stage of development and their level of indecision about their productivity (Bonesrnning, 2011). Workers in the public sector may tend to care about the consequences or vision of the public entity and acquire gratification, from knowing that their exertion of effort is directly leading to it. Francois (2000), in anattempt to address this point of argument, suggests that intrinsically encouraged workforces ought to primarily function preeminent when inducements are trivial or even lacking, and managers obligate not to avert any superfluities or public proceeds away from the establishments undertaking . Besley and Ghatak (2005) advance this point of view in depth, holding that if civic segment corporations post undertakin gs in the course of their conscription process, the normal categorization of job candidates will perform the function of monetary rewards. In contrast, pay-per-performance schemes may aid to concentrate determination on other business objectives which might have remained derelict if workers depend entirely on public service incentive only. These points of view bring back the efficiency argument in which pay-per-performance programs aid well showing that intrinsically motivated labor forces tend to prioritize responsibilities in a veracious manner. Another source of substantiation on the effectiveness of financial incentives is derived from the United States Job Training Partnership Act abbreviated as JTPA. This is a centralized recruitment and preparation Programme which endorses anticipated worker code of conduct by use of agency level monetary inducements instead of a consummate directive. In JPTA, the United States Department of Labor rewards training institutes and the bonuses used to award them cannot be used to increase worker remunerations (Plesca, and Smith, 2007).Therefore, though socially motivated workers can acquire benefits from improved amenities and noticing developed member numbers, personal productivity is compensated indirectly. The definite magnitude 16 of the recompense hinges on a particular organizations productivity in accordance with an array of measures, deemed to have mottled over the existence of JTPA and from State-run to another. Initially, productivity was gauged in consideration of cost for each member along with their pay levels, engagement ranking, and paychecks up to a period of 3 months following their graduation. Bonuses in this Programme have increased the operational budgeting of training centers by approximately 7% but could not be utilized in employee salary increments (Courty and Marschke 2004). Related conclusions from experimental researches of the JTPA Programme are abridged by various theorists including (Besharov Cottingham, 2011). At first, they obtained variegated substantiation inclusive of cream-skimming, the process of choosing job candidates most probable to aid agencies to achieve their productivity objectives. Moreover, Heckman and Smith (2004) in their work view the 16 training centers and, by the act of disintegrating the assortment procedure, figure out that deficiency of cognizance of system suitability instead of cream-skimming by training agency member is accountable for motivating the majority of the striking dissimilarities amongst suitable a pplicants and chosen members. Scrutinizing a single training center carefully, Heckman, Smith, and Taber realize that the training agencies are intentionally choosing less employable applicants notwithstanding the existence of productivity interrelated pecuniary rewards. Barnow and Smith (2004) on the other hand, recommend that regression-founded approaches to regulating the productivity processes employed in the systems for case assortment have been to some extent efficacious at decreasing the inducements to cream-skim suitable candidates. Conclusion As depicted by the majority of the theoretical works, pay per performance remuneration scheme and employee productivity in any organizational setting have a strong positive correlation. Workers recompensed depending on their level of contribution often exhibit advanced motivation, job satisfaction, declined absenteeism rates as well as commitment. Holding other factors constant which have potentials of influencing the productivity such as working environments, operational hours, and managerial practices, staff members tend to perform optimally with the existence of performance-based compensation programs. Nevertheless, some theorists argue against the natural hypothesis of the connection between worker productivity and remuneration based on performance. They maintain that scheming employees can especially during the work inception stage deceive on their experience with a certain task so as to lure managers to be lenient when assessing their productivity. While it is common knowledge that pay per performance schemes augment employees productivity, it is critical for organizations to consider possible repercussions which might befall. Besides, it can be argued that intrinsic form of motivation helps significantly in improving a corporation's overall output and since it is not tied to any material gain, it might emerge better comparatively. Financial incentive in some cases may seem efficient in the short run but deemed inefficient over time. Workers working harder for material gain like bonuses may often exhibit declined motivation in cases when the benefits are affected by other external factors like competition, seasonal variations as well as demographic influencers. References Lavy, V. (2007). Using Performance-Based Pay to Improve the Quality of Teachers. The Future of Children, 17(1), pp.87-109. Lazear, E. (2016). Performance Pay and Productivity. [online] The American Economic Review, Vol. 90, No. 5 (Dec., 2000), pp. 1346-1361. Chiang, F. and Birtch, T. (2010). Pay for performance and work attitudes: The mediating role of employeeorganization service value congruence. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 29(4), pp.632-640. Besley, T. and Ghatak, M. (2003). Incentives, Choice, and Accountability in the Provision of Public Services. Oxford Review of Economic Policy, 19(2), pp.235-249. Burgess, Simon; Propper, Carol; Ratto, Marisa and Tominey, Emma (2004) Incentives in the Public Sector: Evidence from a Government Agency CMPO Working Paper Series No. 04/103 Dixit, A. (2002). Incentives and Organizations in the Public Sector: An Interpretative Review. The Journal of Human Resources, 37(4), p.696. Propper, Carol and Wilson, Deborah (2003) The Use and Usefulness of Performance measures in the Public Sector Oxford Review of Economic Policy Vol. 19 No. 2, 250-268 Francois, P. (2000). Public service motivation as an argument for government provision. Journal of Public Economics, 78(3), pp.275-299. Besley, T. and Ghatak, M. (2005). Competition and Incentives with Motivated Agents. American Economic Review, 95(3), pp.616-636. Barnow, S. and Smith, A. (2004). Performance Management of U.S. Job Training Programs: Lessons from the Job Training Partnership Act. Public Finance and Management, 4(3), 2004 pp. 247-287. Courty, Pascal and Marschke, Gerald (2003) Dynamics of Performance Measurment Systems Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Vol. 19, No. 2 Plesca, M. and Smith, J. (2007). Evaluating multi-treatment programs: theory and evidence from the U.S. Job Training Partnership Act experiment. Empirical Economics, 32(2-3), pp.491-528. Top of Form Besharov, D. J., Cottingham, P. H. (2011).The Workforce Investment Act: implementation experiences and evaluation findings. Kalamazoo, Mich, W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research. Heckman, J., C. Heinrich, and J. Smith (2002) The Performance of Performance Standards The Journal of Human Resources 37: 778811 Heywood, J. and Parent, D. (2012). Performance Pay and the White-Black Wage Gap. Journal of Labor Economics, 30(2), pp.249-290. Park, S. and Sturman, M. (2015). Evaluating Form and Functionality of Pay-for-Performance Plans: The Relative Incentive and Sorting Effects of Merit Pay, Bonuses, and Long-Term Incentives. Human Resource Management, 55(4), pp.697-719. Bonesrnning, H. (2011). Public employees and public sector reform implementation. Public Choice, 156(1-2), pp.309-327. Muhammad, G. (2012). Determinants of Employee Motivation - A Case Study of Afroze Textile Industries Limited, Karachi, Pakistan. IOSR Journal of Business and Management, 4(3), pp.22-25.